Damon Krukowski and his wife/partner Naomi Yang have been making music together since the late nineteen eighties. Their bands Galaxie 500 and Magic Hour were two of the most influential groups of the dream pop movement, and the two have kept making music ever since as the duo Damon and Naomi. Their music is frequently described as either psychedelia or psych pop. The two share an uncanny chemistry as musicians. Damon's guitar blends perfectly with Naomi's keyboards and their vocal harmonies are just heavenly. At their show at The Lab in SF on April 17th, Damon said he's seen their music make even the toughest bouncers at bars they've played start crying. It's beautiful, heartbreaking music. Check them out. Everything they've ever recorded is excellent. Damon stopped by Amoeba SF on April 18th and we got to ask him a few questions.

Amoeba: So you're on a book tour with some Damon and Naomi shows?

Damon: Yes I'm doing a book tour for my new MIT Press book, Ways of Hearing, and we're doing a couple shows along the way. We just played at The Lab last night [4/17]. Tonight [4/18] I'm doing a book event at City Lights Bookstore at 7pm. Come check it out.

Amoeba: What's the book about? I've heard it's a very visual interactive experience that almost reads as a graphic novel.

Austrailian dream-pop artist Hatchie (aka Harriette Pilbeam) and her band filled the Amoeba Hollywood green room with their shimmery, pillowy brand of shoegaze-y rock. The band played four of the five tracks off Hatchie's debut EP Sugar & Spice, which is out now on Double Double Whammy.

Starting with the title track, they fell into a mid-tempo groove, full of atmospheric tones. Continuing with "Sure," the band took a more sentimental approach with its inquisitive lyrics concerning a rekindled relationship. With its watery-shimmery guitar and intricate vocal melodies "Bad Guy" invoked the spirit of bands like Cocteau Twins, while the set closer "Try" porved to be an anthem full of longing.

Reunions are a tricky prospect. For every Dinosaur Jr. that can miraculously pick up the pieces, overcome interband turmoil and release some of the best music of their careers, there’s a load of bands who succumb to that same ol’ conflict after wringing the festival circuit for all its worth.

Thankfully, Blind Spot, the new EP from reunited shoegazers Lush, follows the path set by Dino Jr. At just four songs, it cherry picks the best sounds of their three studio albums without feeling like too much of a rehash, leaning toward the sound of their earlier, stronger material. Sparse bits of keyboard and piano round out the band’s guitar-pedaled sound, adding a subtle new element that could easily expand things down the line.

On mid-tempo opener “Out of Control,” singer/guitarist Miki Berenyi’s voice still pairs uncannily with fellow singer/guitarist Emma Anderson. Jangly guitars casually spiral over the ebbing pulse provided by bassist Justin King and former Elastica drummer Justin Welch. The sound of it is reminiscent of Gala-era tune “Thoughtforms,” but it proves fertile ground to revisit.

If you needed any convincing that Beach House is one of the best bands on the planet, their new song "Sparks" is a strong argument. Ever since their first of two masterpieces was released, 2010's Teen Dream, every new song and album by the Baltimore duo feels like an event. After announcing weeks ago that Depression Cherry, their fifth album and first since 2012's Bloom, would be released Aug. 28 on Sub Pop, we've been waiting with bated breath to hear a new song, and now we've finally got it. "Sparks" first premiered first on a Spanish radio show RTVE and has now been made available to stream via YouTube:

I keep listening to it over and over again to figure out what the hell is going on. That first blast of heavily saturated guitar and Victoria Legrand's layered vocals portend something special, which is just what we get with this gorgeous track. Legrand's organ and voice drone in perfect unison over a corroded digital beat, while Alex Scally's guitar's lay back and add small bits of texture, unleashing that volcanic noise again at select moments. Legrand's voice is more restrained than on previous singles, heavily breathy like My Bloody Valentine's Bilinda Butcher but with her same unmistakable husky tone, which comes through more clearly as the song progresses.The chorus is subtle but lovely, like Neil Young by way of Broadcast, but the best bits are the details—that skip in the beat right before the chorus, those high sliding guitar notes that sound like reverb-drenched shooting stars. It's somewhat long and amorphous but never outstays its welcome. You could listen for days and find new things to like about it.

L.A. new romantics Roses hit the Bootleg HiFi for their November Sunday residency, presented by The Fold. The band plays every Sunday in November, with a new slate of supporting bands each night. Nov. 23 is Amoeba Music Night, featuring Hair Perfect, Crystales and Basement Babies. We’ll be on hand with coupons, buttons and more.

Roses formed last year, following the dissolution of guitarist Juan Velasquez’s old band, Abe Vigoda. Since then, the band has played live extensively, with bands such as A Sunny Day in GlasgowandDiiv, as well as at Amoeba's Red Bull Sound Select show back in August with Tanlines, and they released the Dreamlover EP this year on Group Tightener. Velasquez, a veteran of Amoeba, and singer/keyboardist Marc Steinberg sat down to talk with us a bit about his new band and what they have going on into the new year.